Pipe maker to add 60 jobs at Flint's Buick City property

Nov. 13, 2013

Photo of what the pipes will look like that AMERICAN Spiral Weld pipes that will be produced at the new Flint facility for the Karegnondi Water Authority Pipeline. It was announced on Nov. 13, 2013 that AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company will be building a plant at the Buick City site in Flint. Picture received from the company via Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerce.

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Detroit Free Press Business Writer

Photo of what the pipes will look like that AMERICAN Spiral Weld pipes that will be produced at the new Flint facility. It was announced on Nov. 13, 2013 that AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company will be building a plant at the Buick City site in Flint. Picture received from the company via Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerce.

An Alabama-based pipe supplier plans to build a factory at Flint’s historic Buick City site, a move that economic development officials hope will draw more activity to a dilapidated property that has become a symbol of the town’s manufacturing decline.

Birmingham, Ala.-based American Cast Iron Pipe signed a deal to acquire about 25 acres on the north side of the 414-acre property from the General Motors bankruptcy trust. The deal will be finalized after officials determine the exact physical parameters of the site.

The supplier said in a statement that it plans to add about 60 jobs to produce parts for the waterworks industry and energy businesses.

The company expects to begin construction in early 2014 and finish by the end of the year.

The move comes after the company secured a contract to supply parts to the Karegnondi Water Authority’s new 67-mile pipeline, a project that could cost about $600 million and would direct water from Lake Huron to Genesee County and local communities. The 108-year-old company employs about 3,000 workers throughout the U.S.

“We are proud to be the first manufacturing company to build on the former Buick City site,” Patrick Hook, vice president of operations for a company subsidiary, said in a statement. “We believe this site and this community are a good fit for our organization’s plans for growth, and we believe we have a lot to offer you — our neighbors — here in the city of Flint, the I-69 corridor and the Great Lakes region.”

Bruce Rasher, redevelopment manager for the Revitalizing Automotive Communities Environmental Response (RACER) trust, which is managing more than 80 properties GM left behind in bankruptcy, described the expansion as a “beachhead” for future deals at the Buick City property.

Rasher said RACER is in discussions with another potential buyer of Buick City property that he declined to identify. He said the site’s access to railroad transit gave it an edge in luring the American Cast Iron Pipe operation.

“We’re pleased about the new jobs being created in that community. This is not a relocation. These are new jobs created in Flint,” Rasher said in an interview. “We believe this will send a signal to the market to induce others to take a look at what Flint and Michigan have to offer and specifically what RACER’s Buick City site has to offer.”

The trust will continue to manage the site’s $33-million environmental cleanup budget, which was funded through a federal settlement with GM’s bankruptcy estate.

The deal underscores RACER’s significant influence in reshaping Flint. But it also illustrates how it will be difficult to replace the jobs associated with an economic powerhouse like an automotive manufacturing plant after it closes.

The Buick City property, which employed thousands of workers at its peak, stands as a symbol of GM’s once-sprawling presence in the manufacturing town, whose economic decline can be traced to GM’s loss of market share over the last half century.